ABSTRACT
The cases in this chapter deal with either homicides committed by juveniles or homicides committed upon juveniles. Some of these cases result in national headlines, as children are often viewed as a special class of citizen, and when something as brutal as a child murder happens the knee jerk reaction is to paint the offender as an inhumane monster; however, the truth might actually be more complex, as the some of the cases show. On the other end of the continuum, when a child is an offender, there can be similar levels of shock. As a society, we tend to view juveniles as mostly innocent, carefree, undeveloped individuals who are most likely incapable of committing such violent acts. Again, the cases in this section show that the truth is not so black and white.
